How to add Captions in Microsoft Word

It is a good practice to caption all the tables, images, maps, etc… added to your report. Caption helps you to refer to those objects precisely in your text. Captions are also required to generate the list of tables, figures, etc… in the preface of the report. In this post, I will show you how easily you can add captions in Microsoft Word.

A caption is a numbered label such as “Table 1.1” or “Figure 1.1” that you can add to a figure, table, or any other object. In a caption, the text part (“Table”, “Figure”, etc…) is customizable and followed by an ordered number which is automatically added to it.

When numbering captions, it is recommended to include the chapter number. For example, if you are numbering a table located in Chapter 1 of the report, you should number the table as “Table 1.1”. So, users can easily find the table.

Add Caption to Tables, Figures, and Equations

Usually, tables are captioned above the table, while other objects are captioned below. To add a caption;

Select the object to be captioned (table, figure, or equation)

Go to the References tab

Click “Insert Caption” in the Caption Group

Type your object title in the “Caption text box” of the Caption dialog box

Select the “Position” of your title (Above or Below the selected item)

Change the numbering format (optional)

Click “Numbering” in the caption dialog box

Then click Include chapter number checkbox to add the chapter number

You can also select up to what heading level included in the numbering and the separation character between the chapter number and object number.

Click Ok.

Watch the following short video that demonstrates the above steps.

Add Captions to custom objects

Default Microsoft Word settings contain “Table”, “Figure”, and “Equation” object types. You can also add captions in Microsoft Word for your own object types. For example, if you have included “Maps” in your report, you can create an object type as “Maps” and have separate numbers for maps. Then you can generate a list of Maps in the preface of your document.

To add captions to a custom object type;

Select the object to be captioned

Go to the References tab

Click “Insert Caption” in the Caption Group

Click “New Label…” button

Type your object name in the New Label dialog box and click OK

Change the numbering as explain above (optional)

Select the placement (above or below the selected item) of the caption from the Position dropdown list.

Click OK

Watch the following video that demonstrates the above steps.

Next time when you add a caption, you will see your new object type is available in the Label dropdown list.

Formatting Captions in Microsoft Word

The default caption style of Microsoft Word may not match with every document you created. You can find the default caption style in the Styles group of the Home tab.

To formate the Captions;

Place the cursor inside of a caption

Go to the Home tab

Expand the Styles group using the dropdown arrow

Right-click on the Caption style and click on Modify…

Make the necessary modifications in the Modify Style dialog box and click OK

The modification you made using the above steps will apply to all your captions. And also you do not need to apply styles to every individual caption you added in the future.